Cold hop (the art formally know as dry hopping) in a keg, and leaving it there.

[GPP33]

I just sampled my MO/Centennial SmaSh, still needs time to carbonate but I have a dry hooping, opps, sorry, cold hopping question.

The beer was a little bland for my liking (good, but bland) when I transferred form primary to the keg so I decided to leave the hops in for the duration of serving hoping to not loose as much over time. The sample I pulled had an awesome aroma and a great taste however it was crazy bitter, it was very well balanced coming out of primary. Now I know dry hopping, doh, cold hopping isn't supposed to add bitterness but I know for a fact the beer that drains out of the hop bag when I normally remove them form the keg is uber bitter. This beer tastes similar and has a super pungent aroma, much like those hop bag drainings. Anyway, now I'm paranoid that the hop bag is sitting right at the opening of the pickup tube and any beer that gets pushed out is getting "filtered" through the hop bag first.

Has anyone had this issue with leaving hops in a keg for serving or do I just need to pour more to flush out the sediment? I only poured a couple 12 oz glasses worth since it was flat, I think it was getting less bitter but that may have just been because my taste buds were fried. If I need to siphon it off I'd rather do it now while it's still flat.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

As I'm waiting for my nasty bitter hop sediment to drop out in the keg from racking a dry hopped beer I'm wondering...How does keg hopping NOT add hop residue green bitterness leaching out of the hop bag/spider to the entire keg...Seems counter productive

 

[GPP33]

I always dry hop in the keg and it flushes out pretty quick, now I'm thinking what you're thinking, that it'll just keep replenishing.

People have claimed they always leave em in for serving, now I'm wondering if I missed that they keep em suspended or something. I usually tie em off so I can pull em out but now I'm pretty sure they have sunk. .

 

[day_trippr]

Point of order. This is called "Keg Hopping".

Cheers! (And thank you for your support )

 

[k1ngl1ves]

Every time I dry hop, it's in the keg. I use a gallon paint strainer bag and hang it with unscented dental floss, weighed down with a few stainless washers. I keep it about 3 inches from the bottom. I only keg hop with whole cone hops. No little particles in the beer.

Three days at room temp, then toss it in the kegerator. Bag stays in the keg until it kicks. You can begin carbing at room temp, then adjust pressure when it goes in the kegerator.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

I know TONS of people keg Hop and I can see cones but doesn't pellet hop residue get through the paint strainer bags? I use a paint strainer bag in the primary and get lots of hop debris that make it through the bag into the beer...What makes keg hopping any different?

 

[day_trippr]

I expect keg hopping with pellets is a pita one way or the other.
I only ever use whole cones in a sanitized muslin bag weighted so it hits the bottom and stays there 'til the keg kicks...

Cheers!

 

[hezagenius]

I put a SS mesh screen over my dip tube and then clamp a hop bag around that. Then I just dump in the hop pellets. I will take some time for the hops to drop and several pints to flush out the hop material near the dip tube intake. After that you are good to go. Just don't move the keg.

The bitterness could be from the hop material.

 

[Singletrack]

Point of order. This is called "Keg Hopping".

Exactly. And "Dry Hopping" is when you put your hops into a "Dry." No, wait, sorry; there's no order in that. @GPP33 was right all along. "Cold Hopping" has a nice ring to it, whether in the fermenter or in the keg.

 

[Transamguy77]

I have been doing this for a few years now, I just add the hops to a paint strainer bag and leave them float till the keg kicks.

As far as sediment goes I really haven't had an issue, I did notice that it takes a little longer for the beer to clear.

One more point, I make 10 gallon batches and I have found that if I dry hop them both at the same time the second keg doesn't taste the same as the first so now I'll add the hops to the second keg just before it goes in the fridge.

 

[eric19312]

One more point, I make 10 gallon batches and I have found that if I dry hop them both at the same time the second keg doesn't taste the same as the first so now I'll add the hops to the second keg just before it goes in the fridge.

Good idea I will be trying this.

 

[eric19312]

I always dry hop my IPAs in the keg. This is normally the third dose of dry hop for the beer. I only use pellet hops.

DH1 is loose hops in primary fermentor about 12 hours after I see a full krausen
DH2 is loose hops in primary fermentor on about day 7-10 after fermentation is over
DH3 is in the keg. It will be about 3 days after DH2. These hops go in a nylon paint strainer bag. I don't tie the bag or weight it. I believe it sinks to the bottom.

In my experience pellet hops in keg are not a PITA. Occasionally I get a plugged poppet but that is not hard to fix and rarely recurs.

I do fear use of leaf hops in keg (or any dry hop application) due to concern about air trapped in the cones leading to oxygen exposure.

 

[8MoreMiles]

I just put my pellets in a hop sock, tie it up and put it in. No issues here.

 

[GPP33]

I decided to just pull the hops. Took a 1/8" SS TIG rod and bent a little hook on the end. Sanitized and went fishing....turned up the gas and gave it a shake, should be drinking by Thusday or Friday, we'll see if it fixed it.

 

[GPP33]

Doh!!!!

I just realized that I forgot to purge the head space when I recapped the keg and before shaking it. I took care not to disrupt the CO2 blanket and I know the beer was off gassing while I was fishing (got some foam forming on top) but I'm pretty certain it didn't release enough to make up for the volume of 3.5 ounces of beer saturated hops I pulled out. Oh well, I'll have to drink it fast. Clearing my schedule for the next couple of weeks.....

 

[GPP33]

Had my first pint (ok, first 3 pints) tonight. Pulling the hops fixed it! I'm REALLY glad I made 10 gallons of this one.

Now I just need to out drink the oxidization. I won't make that mistake with the other keg. I'll report back if it starts to stale on me but for now it's in good shape.

 

[jakturner]

Has anyone tried dry hopping in the keg at room temp for a few days then moving the keg to the fridge till it kicks to get some warm and cold hopping out of the same addition?

 

[Transamguy77]

Yes and I didn't see any difference in the short term but did see a difference in long term storage.

 

[standpoint]

I tried dry hopping w/ pellets in a cheesecloth bag in my keg. Wound up w/ tons of hop particles in the beer - the bag dropped to the bottom of the keg and every pour would pull hops through. had to get the bag out of there - tried it twice, same result. Being that I like super clear and clean beer, I decided not to go the keg hopping route again.

If you do it, get a finer bag, and suspend it somehow.

 

[day_trippr]

Try using whole cones in a sanitized muslin bag for keg hopping.
It works perfectly...

Cheers!

 

[David_Trucks]

I think I'm just going to start calling hops I put in the fermenter "fops" and call it "fopping". Problem solved.

 

[Gavin C]

Hops remain in the keg till it kicks without any issues that I am able to discern.

I use leaf hops and a fine voile hop bag from @wilserbrewer .

Boil hop bag for 1+minute

Strain off water leaving bag in the pot.

Add leaf hops to bag and tie a loose knot

The hop-filled bag is balled up to reduce it's volume and placed in a sanitized CO2 filled keg.

The chilled beer at ~32F is then racked to the keg and force carbonated at ~34F

Racking to keg

TL, DR. Hops stay in the keg till it kicks. Tastes great!